Like a lot of other folks I felt bad when Zach Davis had to retire from MMA due to torn retinas after his loss to Chuck O'Neil during TUF 13. A few weeks after that episode aired I returned to training after nearly six months and was determined to catch up on lost time and take full advantage of new programs offered at my school. Well that was the plan anyway.

During my time off my left eye had been giving me some trouble and I had scheduled an appointment to check things out. I had had some retina trouble ten years ago but corrective surgery had fixed it and nothing had come up since, in fact my vision had improved over that time period. Today I received a call to come in for a check up at 3:30. At 5:30 the doctor gave me the bad news. I had suffered a minor, spontaneous hemorrhage behind my retina. Coupled with my previous surgery the doctor told me I could no longer train, even minor impacts could detach or tear my retinas or cause another hemorrhage.

So here I am, a week back and I have to stop permanently. I donated my sparring gear and Gi to the school for any students that couldn't afford some and said my goodbyes.

I'd just like to remind everyone to watch for the warning signs. Sudden blurry or minor loss of vision, even in only a small portion of your eyes, can be the symptoms of a larger problem. Don't try to tough it out, see a doctor right away. Part of not training stupid is knowing when somethings wrong and getting it corrected, even if it means you can't do what you enjoy anymore.

6/29/2011 12:14am,

clinchchilla

Horrible news, dude. Sorry to hear it.

6/29/2011 12:39am,

PizDoff

That's crazy, and must be devastating news for you. Don't stop working out.
Don't know much about ophthalmology but can you get some surgery to make it stronger?

Ever hear of the Alan Belcher story? The UFC fighter was training in Brazil when he started losing vision. If I recall correctly doctors said he'd never fight again, assuming he didn't lose vision in his eye forever. The story ends well, after 1.5 years off Alan will step into the cage again. Alan Belcher vs Jason MacDonald announced for UFC 'Battle on the Bayou' on Sept. 17 in New Orleans.

That's terrible news, so gi training in BJJ is also off the cards? Is that due to possible contact with the eye or the increase in pressure from choke holds etc?

6/29/2011 6:51am,

Rene "Zendokan" Gysenbergs

My Savate teacher has the same problem. I made a thread in the PT/gear forum about boxing helmets with build-in eye protection (we went ultimate for a TKD helm with a faceplate) for him.

He still teaches and does the sparring with us. There are just some minor adaptations to follow:
- when demonstrating a technique that normally includes a headpunch or headkick, he has to hold his gloves in front of him as a replacement target for his head. Normally he used to just close his boxing guard and take the impact.
- When sparring, his head is offlimits.

Sorry to hear about your condition, but do as IiF says, get a second and a third opinion from different doctors, preferably eye-specialists and maybe also a sportdoctor.

Take care and all the best

6/29/2011 7:58am,

erezb

there are full face\ head guard you can try. basket ball players sometime use this spacial eye glasses that may be helpful.

6/29/2011 11:27am,

Flappyhead

Thanks for kind words everyone. I'll be seeing another specialist within the week but it doesn't look good. Because my current problem happened completely on its own without any external trauma the risk factor is pretty high. As it turns out the doctor I saw has treated some amateur fighters so he had a good grasp of things. I asked him about BJJ and he told me that even that is risky because of trips, takedowns and other hard impacts that happen when you're rolling(he didn't mention chokes but that's a fairly obvious one). Even with a full face cage, which I had anyway, the concern is repeated impact could cause more problems. My vision isn't all that good to begin with(I'm legally blind without my glasses or contact lenses) so even a minor risk is one I can't afford to take.

6/30/2011 3:17am,

Necroyunus

I am so sorry bro. My deepest sympathies.

Also, I hope even though you may decide to not to grapple anymore, I hope you don't completely stop training. You can still do something else, hit the bags or lift weights or whatever.

Be safe brother.

6/30/2011 3:54am,

It is Fake

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flappyhead

Thanks for kind words everyone. I'll be seeing another specialist within the week but it doesn't look good. Because my current problem happened completely on its own without any external trauma the risk factor is pretty high. As it turns out the doctor I saw has treated some amateur fighters so he had a good grasp of things. I asked him about BJJ and he told me that even that is risky because of trips, takedowns and other hard impacts that happen when you're rolling(he didn't mention chokes but that's a fairly obvious one). Even with a full face cage, which I had anyway, the concern is repeated impact could cause more problems. My vision isn't all that good to begin with(I'm legally blind without my glasses or contact lenses) so even a minor risk is one I can't afford to take.

Let us know, but yeah find something else. Your vision isn't something you want to lose unnecessarily especially, if it is preventable with a life style change.